We made it to Hawaii! In Lieu of our annual spring trip to Fairbanks, we opted for something a little warmer this year. While we hated (hated!) that this meant we wouldn't get to see Stephen's siblings, Stephen only gets two vacation blocks each year, so if we wanted to take a family trip, we'd have to sacrifice something else. We'd been wanting to take the kids to Hawaii since the two of us were able to go in 2016 and it did not disappoint! And as a bonus, we were able to convince Stephen's parents to meet us there! It wasn't too hard to do ;)
We were on a plane early Saturday morning, the day after Ezra's birthday, and had a direct flight from Oakland to Kauai. Stephen and I had gone to Maui on our "honeymoon" trip and we would have happily taken the kids back, but we decided to check out a different island just for the fun of it. Stephen has been to all the islands but I'm a new Hawaiian island vacation convert and had heard amazing things about Kauai and it's greenery - it's not called the garden island for nothing! - so decided to give it a go! We did a little research before booking our stay and ended up on the south shore in Poi'Pu.
Firsts things first, we went to the beach! After checking in we walked down to Shipwreck Beach, taking a ten minute walk through a lava rock path along the water to get there from our place. (The kids would have been satisfied with that - lava rocks and lizards and a view of the ocean!) We found some tide pools, tried to catch some fish, splashed in the ocean and (I) nursed a babe in the sand, which was all I wanted to do on our trip! It was heaven! The kids were ecstatic and content to do nothing else.
Eventually, our tummies called us back "home" and we made our walk back for an evening swim in the pool and dinner on the deck (ocean view!)
After breakfast on Sunday morning we packed up and headed to Poi'Pu beach, just a two minute drive from our place. Perfect for kids! There are two natural inlets at this beach that are protected from big waves and shallow enough to Ezra to stand up in. After crab hunting through the rocks and fish chasing around the "pool", Uriah ventured out a little further with Stephen for his first swim in the ocean. We built sand castles, splashed, swam, ate and even saw a sea turtle and a monk seal.
We very quickly learned on this trip that our children, Ezra in particular, were made to be island babies. They are already mostly naked babies at home, running around in their underwear, which is perfectly acceptable on a Hawaiin beach. I think we brushed Ezra's hair twice on our trip...? They naturally gravitate to the outdoors - animals, bugs, plants, water...no need for toys, just building and playing with what they find. They were made for this and it was so fun to both watch them soak it up and be able to enjoy it with them, no distractions.
After lunch we headed back to our place so the kids could take a nap. We weren't planning on keeping a normal home schedule our entire trip, but the time change was still working it's way through the kids so a nap was a good choice ;)
Stephen and I took that chance to head to Costco just the two of us and gear up for the rest of our stay. We may have snuck in some shave ice, too, but it wasn't Thursday so don't tell the kids! ;)
While the forecast prior to our trip suggested rain and thunderstorms our entire stay (I was not happy about that!) Sunday evening was the only rain we saw until the morning we left! Praise the Lord! Stephen and the kids went swimming in the pool to get "double wet", followed by dinner and a long enough break in the rain for Stephen and I to sneak down to the water (at our "secret spot"!) to watch the sunset.
Not a bad way to start our vacation if you ask me!
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